The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-03-03
Tortured by the Guard.

INDIANAPOLIS, FEBRUARY .Zl.-lne
revelations from the Southern Prison are
of the most startling character. 1t is
now thought that the shortage in the
prison accounts will reach more than
100000, which really seems incredible,
while the amount of money stolen from
the convicts will never be known with
any accuracy. The stories of the treat
ment accorded the convicts are blood.
curdlipg. Warden Howard was fre.
quently drunk, and when convicts were
reported to him for slight infractions, he
would tell the guard to punish them, and
the punishment were such as the guards
thought best. The usual penalty for
slight offences was confinement in a dark
cell from two to twenty days with the
hands handcnfed on the outside of q
door, and diet of corn bread and water,
in addition 10 which he was deprived of
all of his privileges, such as writing
home once in two weeks, reading books
and using tobacco. This punishment
also included the subtraction of eight
days wages from the convict's earnings
by extra work, as this was q resource Of
considerable revenue to the thieves in
charge.
The practice of Handwriting the con.
victs' hands while thrust through the
bars of cell door was sometimes varied
by stringing them up by the thumbs or
wrists, high enough to barely allow the
weight of the body to rest on the floor.
They we're released from this position
only at meal times and during sleeping
hours. The best conyicts, who had
earned small sums by their extra work,
were among the most frequently punished,
and it was really a disadvantage for q
prisoner to have any money saved,
because it made him an object of special
attention until it had been extorted from
him, either by penalty or By compelling
him to pay exorbitant prices for small
necessities. In 1881 convict named
O'Neill complained to the prison physi-
clan, DR.. Sherod, that he was sick and
unable to work. Sherod was drunk, and
said there was nothing the matter with
him. O'Neill was driven to work by the
guards, but was too sick to complete his
task, and for this he was punished in the
usual way, being strung up for ten days
or more and dieted on corn bread and
water. He grew so weak that he had
no sufficient strength to stand, but his
punishment, instead of being lightened,
was made severer, and he was finally left
With his hands handcufed through his
cell door all night. The next morning
he was found hanging in this position
dead.
William Skaggs, convict from Perry
County, serving term of FIVE years, was
for trivial offence recently punished in
the same way for fourteen days, and came
from the dreaded cage fatally i'll, hasty
consumption having ensued, as the mem.
bers of the investigating committee be-
lieve, solely from the effect of sleeping
on the bare stone floor during his period
of punishment Mark Pomeroy, OF Vim.
cennes, on one occasion asked guard,
when speaking to him, to refrain from
cursing him. For this Pomeroy was
hand cufed, strung up for ten day, and
deprived of his privileges. In giving his
testimony Pomeroy stated that about one.
third of the guards were often drunk
when on duty, and, in conclusion, he re:
marked bitterly: 'This place is hell
in ITSELF" Another convict named
Whetted, for having in his possession
twenty cents that had been given to him
by visitor, was strung up for two days,
deprived of all his privileges, and robbed
of eight days extra earnings, although
it was his first offence.
The filth of the prison is indescribable.
Ore of the members of the committee
says; "There is no system of drainage
in the prison, and only once in twenty
four hours is the accumulation of filth
carried from the cells, the stencil coming
from them being almost unbearable to
any one not accustomed to it. The beds
are black with filth, and bugs may be
seen creeping over them and about the
cells at any time. The worthless soap
with which the prisoners are supplied is
smeared over the place as a means Of